Formitem Appearance
Contents
See Also
Advanced Canvas Control Attributes, Colors, CSS, Data Attributes, Field Attributes, Fonts, Form Section Attributes, Gradients, Shading and Transparency, Themes
Overview
Attributes are available at formitem (Field, Gadget, Canvas Section Advanced Control) or Section level to configure the appearance of formitems.
These attributes may apply to the formitem's 'Caption' or its 'Data'.
The Appearance, Caption and Data Field and Gadget attributes apply to that formitem only.
Appearance Attributes
CSS style
- See CSS.
Caption position
By default, the Caption position is 'Beside'.
As shown here, it can be set to be 'Above' the Data.
Note: if the Section display does not refresh immediately, open and close the Section Attributes by double-clicking on the Section Header or using the cog icon.
The Caption position for all formitems in the Section can also be set using the Section Caption position attribute.
The Caption position can be set to 'RightToLeft', in which case the Caption is displayed beside the Data, but to its right.
The Caption position can be 'None', in which case no Caption is displayed.
With the Caption position set to None, you can no longer double-click the Caption to access the Field's attributes. Open the App Inspector using its button in the Headerbar and double-click on the Field's name to open the Field Attributes dialog.
Caption size
The Caption size can be set to Small, Medium, Large or Largest.
The Caption size for all formitems in the Section can also be set using the Section Caption size attribute.
Shading
Transparency type
Border radius
This is currently ignored.
Layout direction
The Layout direction for this field: Vertical | Horizontal.
- Applies to Checklistview Gadget and Canvas Section OptionGroup Advanced Control.
- From v7.2.
Caption Attributes
Show caption
The Show caption attribute applies to Advanced Canvas Controls only.
It determines whether the 'Caption' is displayed or not.
The 'Caption' display for Form Section Fields and Gadgets is determined by the Caption position attribute. Setting the Caption position to 'None' is the equivalent of unchecking Show caption (False).
Caption
The Caption is the text displayed in the 'Caption' part of the formitem.
By default, for formitems bound to a table column/field, this is the column's caption.
The column's caption is also known as its 'description'.
For a quick edit of the Caption, click the 'writing hand' icon that appears when you hover your mouse.
Note: for formitems bound to a table column, if Inherit dictionary caption is checked for the formitem, the Caption cannot be modified. It will be displayed as the column's caption when the App is reloaded.
The column's caption can be changed in the Table Designer ('Create a Column' and 'Modify a Column' dialogs prior to v6.3) - double-click the column name in the column explorer in the Sidebar in the Pages or Data workspaces - or using the ALTER TABLE SQL command. The caption corresponds to the 'Description' column constraint.
Label Advanced Control
From v7.2, two special formatting options are available for the Caption for Label controls in Canvas Sections.
If the Caption starts with a + the Label is displayed as a groupbox with a titlebar and border:
If the Caption starts with a - the Label is displayed as a groupbox with a groupbox style title and a border:
Caption CSS style
Caption CSS style (separate attributes with ';' or use app:/filename.css or specify CSS classes separated by spaces).
- See CSS
Background color
- See Colors
Foreground color
- See Colors
Font
- See Fonts
Icon
The Icon allows a small image to be displayed in the Caption.
Click the [...] button to display the 'Select an image file' dialog to search for and choose your image.
To use an image file from the Lianja Library, prefix the filename with 'lib:/', e.g.
lib:/cat_home_sm.png
Note: the icon is displayed on the Desktop client only.
Border width
By default, the 'Caption' has a border width of 0.
This can be increased to display a border around the 'Caption'.
The color of the border is set in the Border color attribute.
Border color
The color of the 'Caption' border
- See Colors.
Transparency
Gradient colors
- See Gradients.
Gradient type
- See Gradients.
Gradient start color
- See Gradients.
Gradient end color
- See Gradients.
Data Attributes
See Data Attributes for other Data Attributes.
Background color
- See Colors
Foreground color
- See Colors
Font
- See Fonts
Data size
The Data size can be set to Small, Medium, Large or Largest.
The Data size for all formitems in the Section can also be set using the Section Data size attribute.
Text alignment
The default Text alignment is Left.
Alternatively it can be set to Center or Right.
Form and Canvas Section Attributes
Form and Canvas Sections have attributes that affect all the Fields in the Section. These will be applied to existing and subsequently added formitems.
Caption position
As in the Field Attributes, the Caption position can be set to None, Above, Beside or RightToLeft.
Caption size
As in the Field Attributes, the Caption size can be set to Small, Medium, Large or Largest.
Data size
As in the Field Attributes, the Data size can be set to Small, Medium, Large or Largest.
Spacing
The Spacing attribute controls the distance between the Fields.
Caption width
The default Caption width is 160.
The Caption width can be increased or decreased as required.
Note: the Caption width attribute is also available on applicable Canvas Section Advanced Controls, in which case it applies to that control only.
